Photo Gallery: Views of the Middle East through a religious lens

A Greek-Orthodox priest walks through the Church of the Nativity, which according to tradition stands over the Grotto where Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the West Bank.

David Silverman
/ Getty Images

Christian Orthodox worshippers carry a crucifix past a ray of sunlight as they continue to pass the holy fire to fellow worshippers around the tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.Quique Kierszenbaum
/ Getty Images

An Israeli bride still in her wedding gown kisses the Western Wall, one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites in Jerusalem, Israel. Prayers are recited at separate areas of the wall - one for men and the other for women and children.Paula Bronstein
/ Getty Images

Religious Jewish men pray at The Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, ahead of the Sabbath in Jerusalem, Israel.Peter Macdiarmid
/ /Getty Images

Palestinian Muslim Kamil Asakra performs his midday prayers in a mosque in the West Bank biblical town of Bethlehem.David Silverman
/ Getty Images

Palestinian Muslim women pray at Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque as Muslims around the world celebrated the sixth century AD birth of Prophet Mohammed. The shrine is built on a site in the dived West Bank city that is holy for both Muslims and Jews, who call it the Tomb of the Patriarchs.Hazem Bader
/ AFP/Getty Images

Franciscan monks pray during the Easter Solemn Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City,Gali Tibbon
/ AFP/Getty Images

Jewish Orthodox women pray during a visit to one of the few dozen holy grave sites in Zefat Israel.Shaul Schwarz
/ /Getty Images

A Samaritan boy looks on as older members of the ancient community pray at their most sacred site at Mount Gerizim in the northern West Bank, during the pilgrimage for the holy day of Tabernacles (Sukkot). The Samaritan religion is based on four principles of faith, One God-The God of Israel, One Prophet-Moses Ben Amram; The belief in The Tora-the first five books of the bible, and one holy place-Mount Gerizim. According to tradition, the Samaritans are descendants of the Jews who were not deported when the Assyrians conquered Israel in 722 BC. The small community numbers about 700 people, half of them living in a village in Mount Gerizim, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, and the rest in Holon near Tel Aviv in Israel.Gali Tibbon
/ AFP/Getty Images

A Jewish man draped in prayer shawls, hold the Cohanim prayer (priest's blessing) during the annual blessing celebration of Sukkoth or the feast of the Tabernacles at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. Thousands of Jews make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem during Sukkoth, which commemorates the desert wanderings of the Israelites after their exodus from Egypt.Menahem Kahana
/ AFP/Getty Images

Palestinian women who have left Islam and joined an Evangelist church join Christian pilgrims in dance and worship before a baptism ceremony in the Jordan River near Jericho in the West Bank.David Silverman
/ Getty Images

Ethiopian Christian Orthodox worshippers attend a special Easter prayer at the Deir Al-Sultan chapel on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, which Christians traditionally believe was built on the site where Jesus was crucified and buried.Gali Tibbon
/ AFP/Getty Images

An ultra-Orthodox Jew prays outside the tomb of the Biblical Israelite spy and leader Jehoshua Bin Nun (Joshua), where the walls have been covered with Palestinian nationalist graffiti in the northern West Bank Palestinian village of Kifl Hareth.David Silverman
/ Getty Images

Men from the ancient Samaritan sect hold prayers at dawn on the last day of their Passover celebrations on top of Mount Gerizim near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The Samaritan religion is based on four principles of faith, One God - the God of Israel, One Prophet - Moses Ben Amram, belief in the Torah - the first five books of the Hebrew bible and One Holy Place - Mount Gerizim. Despite its similarity to Judaism, the Samaritan community which numbers less than 720 people, half living at Mount Gerizim in the West Bank and the others in Holon near Tel Aviv in Israel, are not recognized as being Jewish.David Silverman
/ Getty Images

Samaritans pray on top of Mount Gerizim near the northern West Bank city of Nablus during the Jewish festival of Shavuot. Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai seven weeks after the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. The Samaritan religion is based on four principles of faith, One God-The God of Israel; One Prophet-Moses Ben Amram; The Belief in The Torah-the first five books of the Bible and One Holy Place-Mount Gerizim. The Samaritan community numbers about 720 people, half at Mount Gerizin in the West Bank and the others in Holon near Tel Aviv in Israel. AMenahem Kahana
/ AFP/Getty Images

Palestinian women hold Muslim midday prayers at the Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank town of Ramallah.David Silverman
/ Getty Images

Brazilian Evangelist Christians hold a mass prayer before baptism in the waters of the Jordan River, at Yardenit in northern Israel.David Silverman
/ Getty Images

Brazilian Evangelist Christians hold a mass baptism in the waters of the Jordan River at Yardenit in northern Israel. The group of 700 worshippers, from Bahia in northen Brazil, descended in the biblical river as part of their pilgrimage to the Holy Land.David Silverman
/ Getty Images

Samaritans pray on top of Mount Gerizim near the northern West Bank city of Nablus during the holiday of Sukkoth (the Tabernacles Feast) celebrations. Sukkoth marks the exodus of the ancient Hebrew people from Egypt. The Samaritan religion is based on four principles of faith, one God, the God of Israel; one Prophet, Moses Ben Amram; the Torah, the first five books of the Bible and one holy place, Mount Gerizim. The Samaritan community numbers about 720 people, half at Mount Gerizin in the West Bank and the others in Holon near Tel Aviv in Israel.Menahem Kahan
/ AFP/Getty Images

An Israeli soldier (C) along with thousands of Jewish men and women perform a prayer at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, in Jerusalem.David Furst
/ AFP/Getty Images

A Jewish man prays at the settlement of Hebron in the West Bank.Urial Sinai
/ Getty Images

A boy carries a donkey as Ultra Orthodox Jews take part in the "Pidyon Peter Chamor" ceremony, or the "Redemption of the first born donkey" in the Meir Sharim neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel. The traditional ceremony is part of the 613 laws commemorated in the Torah.Uriel Sinai
/ Getty Images

By Ron Seymour KELOWNA — The gangster accused of ordering the killing of Jonathan Bacon was in a good...

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